Within the Department of Defense there is a mission to deliver a large number of Soldiers to a forward position by parachute. The jumpers are equipped with harnesses and parachutes to slow their descent. All modern parachute systems have a means of separating the parachute from the harness for emergencies and continued execution of the mission once on the ground. The means of separation is called a Parachute or Canopy Release Assembly.
Parachute systems worn by the Airborne Soldier utilize a solid mechanical release to connect the riser to the main harness. Sport jumpers use a release that is referred to as a 3-Ring Canopy Release. The 3-Ring Canopy Release is a series of three interlocking rings held closed by a loop of textile cord. The cord is locked in place by nylon-coated steel cable ripcord. Each ring uses mechanical advantage to reduce the load held by the previous ring. The structure creates a significant mechanical aadvantage. At 10 to 1, the textile loop would only have to restrain 1/10th the load acting on the riser. Other configurations attempt to increase the mechanical advantages by adding more rings, such as 4 and 5-ring assemblies.
The final closure of a multi-ring release is a textile loop held in place by a ripcord. When the ripcord is pulled free from the textile loop, the loop flexes and releases the smallest of the metallic rings. In turn, each ring releases the next successively larger ring until the riser is set free.
Past efforts have been made to include a multi-ring release into the airborne soldier harness system. Several factors make a multi-ring assembly attractive. However, due to the large variation in body sizes the harnesses have to fit, the ripcord method is not applicable.
The standard 3-Ring assembly has a large base ring, cord loop, and ripcord sewn into the harness. The latching rings of the release are sewn into the parachute riser. This configuration works with the ripcord because the ripcord can be any length and is flexible.
One hazard of this orientation is the chance of the multiple rings impacting the face of the jumper during release. Since the intent is to apply the multi-ring to a large number of jumpers, the chance of injury is greatly increased. Additionally, the length of the ripcord needs to accommodate the 95th percentile male. This length may be too much for the 5th percentile female arm length to properly activate.
One attempt to overcome these hazards is to invert the multi-ring release. However, simply inverting the multi-ring release is not easily accomplished. Localizing the release activation means to the chest/shoulder area accommodates standardization for all jumpers. To accomplish the range of adjustability, many straps of the harness are discontinuous and are joined with clips. This prohibits the ripcord from being properly shielded throughout its path within the harness.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a canopy release that addresses at least some of the problems identified above.